Bus travels in record time...

 ...from Valle Gran Rey in La Gomera's south-west across the mountains and through the national park to the island's capital San Sebastian de La Gomera. A journey that normally takes about 100 minutes was done in less than nine minutes (!) by this Mesa coach, as the video below shows. Caution: Better have a bucket handy just in case your stomach isn't up to what you're about to see:

Massive rockfall and landslide near Valle Gran Rey

There was a major rockfall and landslide in the cliff of Teguergenche mountain towering over the harbour of Vueltas. The incident happened this afternoon and the unsurfaced access road to both the Argaga ravine (where the 'Fruit Garden' is located) and the resort of 'Finca Argayall' has been blocked by countless tons of debris. Some camper vans parked there narrowly escaped destruction. Three rescue helicopters were searching for signs of anyone trapped, but up to now there are no reports of any casualties. The video shows a huge plume of dust and even waves caused by the massive amount of rocks falling into Valle Gran Rey's harbour of Vueltas. A couple of diggers are on stand-by near the scene and the tough work of reopening the access road will begin as soon as it is deemed safe to do so. (Above video source: Esteban Perez)

UPDATE:

The Canarian government has activated the ''territorial emergency plan'' and additional teams from civil defence, Red Cross, police, etc., as well as search dogs have been sent to La Gomera from Tenerife and Gran Canaria.

The harbour beach in Vueltas has been closed.

Update Sunday night:

There seem to be no casualties after extensive searches by rescue teams with sniffer dogs did not find any traces. Thankfully there are no reports of missing persons, and the search teams have returned home. Specialist engineers have arrived in Valle Gran Rey who will assess the stability of the cliff and the debris before any work to clear debris can begin. In the meantime the area will be serviced by boat. The beach in Vueltas will remain closed temporarily.

+++

The administration of Vallehermoso, under whose jurisdiction the affected area falls, has announced that the access road to Argaga and Finca Argayall is to remain closed permanently and will now be given up as it has become too unstable and dangerous. This decision was taken in agreement with all the other relevant authorities. Geologists from INVOLCAN have spotted more cracks and splits in the face of the cliff that will probably lead to further rock material breaking off. In fact, locals are well aware of these cracks and the erosion of this mountain has been ongoing for millenia. The whole of La Gomera presents an erosion landscape.

There is now a proposal to rapidly build a small pier to service the area and this project has the support of La Gomera's government.

More information about the track to Argaga, with frightening stories of near misses and fatal rock falls can be found here... Read more...

                                                                    Image source: gomeraverde.es

View of the fallen material from one of the helicopters. Note the new coastline and the camper vans on right.

One of La Gomera's many tranquil areas

                          The spectacular landscape at El Cepo near La Gomera's northern coast

Ship-shape potato patch

...and all it needs is some rain. An interesting fact is that La Gomera's small farmers often use

Irish seed potatoes from Co. Donegal which are sold through the banana growers co-operatives.

 

Dawn over Tenerife seen from La Gomera

Partitioning of empty beaches in Valle Gran Rey

This video shows the latest Canarian Corona folly. This one was erected on behalf of  the 'councillor for beaches' of the local government (Ayuntamiento) on the beach of La Playa (aka Playa Maria, aka Playa La Calera) as a pilot measure to ensure social distancing on beaches. Wooden walkways are to be installed next, amid all the existing  complicated rules to visit public areas. The video also shows the regular 'disinfection' of lamp posts, etc...Don't forget to wear your face mask when walking to your allocated disinfected spot in the sand.

Well, maybe the yellow lines separating the sunbathing bays could be used for drying your towels if you applied for  permission first and had disinfected them properly ? 

The next big swell will wash it all away and disinfect the sand properly. Yet more Corona-plastic waste, though. 

UPDATE Sept. 18th 2020:

A change in wind direction and higher tides resulted in the whole effort ending up as a tangled mess,

which was then removed by the council. 

Anyone who's only ever been there for a week could have predicted that. Anyway, hardly anyone ever used the cordoned-off sections and the beach is back to its natural state now.

Village of 'White Caves'

Abandoned cave dwellings at 'Cuevas Blancas' in La Gomera's north-east  (Archive image)

Forest fire in La Gomera's national park

A fire has broken out in the beautiful Jardin de Las Creces area of La Gomera's ancient forest in the Garajonay national park. The alarm was raised around 9:30 pm last night and weather conditions were not helping the many fire brigade units that rushed to the area with winds gusting in excess of 60 km/h and very low relative humidity of less than 20% with temperatures of around 27ºC.

There is also a very large wildfire raging on the neighbouring island of La Palma where all available Canary Islands fire fighting resources have been sent over the past 48 hours plus three additional fire fighting aircraft from the Spanish mainland. Hundreds of people had to flee their homes there.

Last night La Gomera's emergency services evacuated elderly people and those with limited mobility from the village of Las Hayas which is closest to the fire and belongs to the municipality of Valle Gran Rey. All available resources in La Gomera were mobilised and the road between Arure an Las Hayas should be avoided to facilitate the transit of the emergency services there.

Initially 1.5 hectares of forest were reported to be affected in La Gomera last night but the terrain in the area is very abrupt and on a steep slope with difficult access for the fire crews. However, earlier this morning the fire has been declared ''stabilised, but not yet under control'', so let's hope that the rapid response by the fire services will help to avoid a similiar situation to that of the inferno of 2012, which was also preceded by a large blaze on La Palma island. 

Video of La Gomera's fire taken last night:

Posted by Manuel Manuel Padilla Padilla on Saturday, 22 August 2020 (click to view)

Since I got the news around midnight last night I've got this faint smell of burning heather-trees in my nose. I know it must be just the memory of 2012 when this was a dangerous reality for weeks, as I'm sitting in rainy Ireland now. The memory of having lived through the constant state of high alert until the final disaster during La Gomera's 2012 blaze is playing this trick on me.

I'll will update this post later, hopefully with good news.

UPDATE 1: It has just been reported that the firefighters on the ground will get support from the air, but no details were given.

UPDATE 2: One helicopter has been sent to fight La Gomera's fire.

UPDATE 3: La Gomera's island government has issued this additional statement in English: ''It is reported that as many forest tracks as the trails of the surrounding areas of Las Creces are closed. ▪ Tourist accommodations are called upon to communicate this information to their customers.'' (sic)

UPDATE 4: Work continues to control the fire. Meanwhile pictures of part of the affected area have been published by the Cabildo de La Gomera (island government) on their Twitter page:

...and here's another image of the area published by Canarian Weekly this morning:

UPDATE 5 (2:15pm): The situation is more ''stabilised'' now and the fire services are optimistic that the fire will be brought under control today. The affected area is more accessible now since a new access track has been cut into the forest and the helicopter is dumping water over the less accessible spots that are still burning. The evacuated villagers have been told that they can return home later this afternoon. However, the weather remains a worry with the nearest weather station at the graveyard of Arure reporting wind gusts in excess of 75km/h, very low humidity and temperatures over 30ºC.

UPDATE 6 : Thanks to the rapid intervention of the emergency services the fire in La Gomera has been declared ''under control'' and all that remains to be done is to extinguish the remaining hotspots and clearing smouldering timbers. 

In the neighbouring island of La Palma the huge blaze which burned 1200 hectares has been stabilised, but 400 firefighters and several helicopters and planes are still working to make sure none of the many hotspots and glowing embers will reignite the fire.

Masks now mandatory outdoors in Canaries (updated)

Masks were previously seen outdoors only during carnival 

season as in my archive image from a couple of years ago

Canarian Weekly reported last Thursday night:

...'' 2020/08/13, 19:17:13 by Canarian Weekly

As of tomorrow (Friday), masks are now mandatory in all public spaces, inside or outside, regardless of social distancing, as announced by the Canaries President, Angel Victor Torres, earlier today.

...Bars and restaurants are still allowed customers inside and outside to full capacity, as long as social distancing allows, with maximum group size of 10 people.

Masks must be worn by staff at all times, and by customers when not eating or drinking.

Terraces must be closed by 1.30am with last customers at 1.00am.

Smoking is not allowed on terraces unless people are 1.5 metres (2 m., Ed.) apart.

Clubs and nightclubs are reverting back to Junes rules when the state of alarm was lifted, meaning they can only open an 'open air' terrace to the public with maximum of 70% capacity. 

Again social distancing applies between tables, as does maximum group size of 10 people.

Terraces must be closed by 1.30am with last customers at 1.00am.

Smoking is not allowed outdoors unless people are 1.5 metres apart (it actually says 2 metres in the Spanish text,  Ed.), and masks must be worn by staff at all times, and by customers when not drinking.

Finally dance floors are still not permitted.

New fines and sanctions have been decreed, meaning that security and police forces have more means to enforce them for breach of regulations.''

UPDATE:

The Official Gazette of the Canary Islands says regarding the mandatory use of masks, that it affects "all persons aged six and over", both "on public roads, in outdoor spaces and in any closed space for public use, or that is open to the public, regardless of maintaining an interpersonal safety distance of at least 1.5 metres."

Additional restrictions have been applied  Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, where a mask is required when sitting at a table and cannot be taken off except to physically eat and drink, and in the case if drinking it must be worn in between sips. This is not applicable elsewhere, ie Tenerife, Fuerteventura and the western Islands, but this is subject to change anytime it is deemed necessary.

As regards beaches and swimming pools, "the obligation to use a mask during swimming and while sunbathing and remaining in a certain space without moving, is excluded, and provided that respect for the interpersonal safety distance between all non-cohabiting users is maintained." 

However, the use of a mask is mandatory in the entrances and walkways when using these spaces and facilities.

Likewise, the decree states that "the owners of establishments, spaces and premises must guarantee compliance with these obligations in them."

It is also clarifies that "it is mandatory to use the mask correctly, and it must cover the nose and mouth completely at all times. Likewise, it must be properly adjusted to the nose and chin, so as to prevent the expulsion of respiratory secretions to the environment."

In the islands that exceed 100 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the cumulative incidence of cases diagnosed in the last 7 days, which as of now are Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, it is stated that “mass events or acts will not be authorized, which is understood to be those of more than 10 people."

Also in hotels, restaurants and establishments with outdoor terraces, as well as in beach bars and restaurants the closing time is established is at midnight (latest), and to admit new customers after 11pm is illegal.

Great panoramic shot of Valle Gran Rey

Above image of Valle Gran Rey was taken by Andy McLeod, who is an award winning director of photography and underwater cameraman based in Tenerife and he also regularly works across the globe. This wide-angle image of La Gomera's south-western corner taken from the air is breathtakingly beautiful.

Planning a trip to Spain ? Here's what you should do

Mirador de Abrante above Agulo in La Gomera's north (Archive)

Sadly new 'health control' regulations apply when going to Spain and that includes La Gomera. All travellers now must complete a form and then a unique personal QR code is generated which can be used in printed form or downloaded with an app. The registration form should be downloaded, completed and returned BEFORE you travel to avoid delays at airports. The generated individual code must then be used wherever you go in Spain. 

Here's the link to the official Spanish health ministry's website (in English) with all the relevant information and from where you can proceed: https://spth.gob.es

Note: All La Gomera Ferry services still run a reduced schedule which changes frequently, and health-bureaucracy is strictly enforced on arrival and departure in all Canary Islands ports, so allow a bit of extra time if planning a trip.

Also the Canarian government does still plan to go ahead with mandatory testing of incoming tourists at airports despite the Spanish government ruling this out, so it remains unclear what happens on arrival in the Canaries. Not very inviting, really, on top of all the rest of the hassle.

...and by the way La Gomera has NOT had any Covid cases for ages.

La Gomera's latest event during Covid coma

                     

                                           Rain shower in Vueltas, Valle Gran Rey (archive image)

Irish writer Damien Enright is still stuck in La Gomera due to the continuing Corona virus pandemonium and I'm thankful for his regular reporting from there in the Irish Examiner. It looks increasingly unlikely that I can go there in the near future, as travelling with all the current restrictions, controls, complications, and a minimal flight and ferry schedule, etc., it's an ordeal I'm not risking to suffer. I had planned to go in April...

However, I've been on the 'phone to La Gomera regularly, and have been told by locals that a good few people there are still very scared of any visitors, even from the other Canary islands, despite the fact that there haven't been any Corona virus positives for a long time in La Gomera and very few in the rest of the archipelago.

June is a quiet time of the year there anyway, but several businesses have now ceased trading forever and a good few more are struggling, while some enterprises have not even been in a position to try and reopen yet.  La Gomera's Covid coma continues...

So I let Damien describe a recent 'event', and I can just visualise meeting them there as we did in the past:

'' An ‘event’ observed (for a while) over coffee on terrace

I took a break from scribbling this morning to have a coffee with my son, who had also taken a break from his writing. His mother and I met him and his wife and sat outside a cafe — where else would one sit in June (or at any time of the year) in the climate of La Gomera?

But then, the sky darkened above us, and the rain, forecast every day for the previous three days, at last began to fall, drop by heavy drop, hitting the table tops and resounding on our heads.

We retreated inside and, five minutes later, watched the drops turn to a downpour, and the world grow dark outside. It was an ‘event’ observed with fascination, the first real rain we’d seen since December, when we arrived.

Showers had visited the valley perhaps three times over the months, light and short lived. This was the first real rain, like Irish rain. Meanwhile, in Ireland, rain didn’t fall for weeks, until Thursday last.

After an hour, it was still falling. The other side of the street was almost obscured. Drops beat a timpani on the tables and hopped off the tarmac. After the 25 yard run back to our car, my wife and I were was as sodden as if we’d been in the sea.

I drove the 1km home through streets that were rivers, with ponds at the corners, the drains, caught by surprise, barely able to cope. The wipers of my faithful 1995 1.6 litre Ford Fiesta got a chance to show off, as they hadn’t for months. It’s a car with little or no rust, its dark blue paintwork mottled all by the sun. It’s a perfect subject for a respray. A respray and dent-removal would cost as much as I paid for it — €800 — four years ago. It might be a good investment. It has never gone wrong, and passed the MOT every year with flying ‘colours’. I meet the vendor regularly, and she bemoans selling it.

The mileage ‘clock’ says 41,000 km, but this may be the second time around. Cars here don’t travel far, of course, the island being only 50km across. Sheltered from the sun by their owners when not on the road, the ancient Mercedes, BMWs, Toyotas, etc, are the best preserved one could see anywhere, possibly worth a fortune in Ireland but all left-hand drive.

Meanwhile, when we got home, the clothes hanging out to dry on the flat roof were all soaked and dripping buckets of water. Never mind, we said, leave them there. The rain will stop and the sun come out, and an hour later they will be bone dry.

Meanwhile, the tens of thousands of fruiting and flowering trees in this valley, the lettuces, potatoes and vegetable gardens will be blessed by the bounty. The avocado, the mango and manga, the guava and fig trees are already heavy with fruit. A German man who lives in the barranco of Vallehermoso has, it is said, a hundred varieties of fruiting trees on his property. It’s a life-long hobby; he gives the fruit away.

This island was once impoverished. Such was the struggle to grow enough to eat that peasant farmers made terraces on almost sheer slopes so high that it would take half a day to reach them, patches of earth behind walls of stones cleared, by mighty labour, from the land. This was ‘made’ land; the only level ground was at the mouths of valleys where water from the uplands seasonally spread as it reached the sea.

Thousands of these terraces are abandoned now, dry and sere, the walls falling, the soil that filled them leaching through. When they were in use, the problem was not only to reach and fertilise them but to get the produce to market, down the winding, precipitous caminos that now make walking tracks, ‘senderos’, for the tourist hikers.

Some, stone paved, were used by mules or donkeys. From the mountains inland, they brought, tomatoes, potatoes, almonds and figs to the coast, to stony beaches where they were taken off by small boats.

The population was once 40,000. It is now 21,000. There was much emigration to Venezuela and Cuba. Now, tourism has come and the Gomero people, unusually — or not surprisingly, given the climate — have no great wish to travel elsewhere. Happily, the value of an environment left to nature, with thousands of hiking trails, was understood, the mountains and forests at the centre designated one of the first World Heritage Parks. Nature has not been subverted by inappropriate resorts.

Off the edge of the road, is wilderness. Beaches have not been created by earth movers or diggers. They are black sand and washed by pristine seas.''  © Damien Enright, Irish Examiner  June 14th 2020

Oh when will we see and hear this again ?

Impromptu music session at the bus station bar in Valle Gran Rey in November 2018.

Actually there is enough space between the participants to satisfy the current distancing rules...

Coronas

For several years I used to smoke above cigarettes when living in La Gomera. They're made in Tenerife by the same company that makes Benson & Hedges and other well known brands, but Coronas were and still are much cheaper. When the packs of ten cigarettes were phased out through EU regulations some years ago I remember buying 30 packs of 10 Coronas for just 3,30 Euros (total price for the carton of 300 , I kid you not, that's little more than 10 cents per 10-pack) in Anita's tiny supermarket in Vueltas, which is sadly gone the way of the ten-packs. Coronas cigarettes are still widely available all over Spain, though more expensive there than in the Canaries, as are all cigarettes. I wonder are they now as popular with hugely increased demand there as is Corona lager beer here in Ireland due to the Corona virus hype ?

...and no, I'm not promoting any brand of smokes nor any brand of virus, and a warning is on the pack. 

By the way a German carpenter living in Ireland once stated when making a table for me with a fag in his mouth: ''Smoking is yoga for the lungs''. He has since quit smoking and went back to Germany.

Fishy tales from La Gomera

Beaked whale stranded in Charco del Conde, Valle Gran Rey (Image: Ayuntamiento Valle Gran Rey)

While we're roasting in Gomera-like summer heat here in the west of Ireland, Damien Enright (himself 'stranded' in La Gomera due to Corona curtailments) reported from the island in the Irish Examiner yesterday:

'' Damien Enright: Merciless predation on the beaches of Gomera

Gomera is always replete with stories to tell, and this week is no exception. For me, it began in serendipitous accord with my recent theme of “small is beautiful” when I found myself waist-high in the sea surrounded by small, lifeless fish floating laterally, not belly up, glittering like spangles on the surface.

I picked one up, then two. They were as fresh as if in life, unusual and elegant. I laid two across my open palm, one pink, one metallic blue, each with a nose one third of its body length. Snipe trumpet fish, they are called, ‘trompeteros’. So long is the appendage that snipe trombone fish might suit them better. I took photos. I’d display them but the space is better filled by the image of a second item of deep-water fauna that beached here, so I will just tell the trumpet fish story.

They live at depths in tropical and sub-tropical waters in sea mounts at depths to 600m. They come to the surface at night to feed on crustacean zooplankton and return at dawn. Wouldn’t it take them half the night just to arrive? No, because, in shoals, they ride currents like geyser spouts rising from the submarine canyons. Tragically, however, they sometimes cannot find gaps in the ‘geysers’ and, not strong enough to swim against them, cannot make the return journey to the cool, dark depths that are their home.

Stranded on the surface under the heat of the sun, they die in their millions, are a feast for gulls, wash up in swathes on island beaches, forming heaps half the height of haystacks until buried rather than left stinking in the sun.

Snipe trumpet fish close up (Damien Enright)

A tragic sight, but not so sad as the solitary creature lying on broken rocks at the mouth of ‘the baby beach’ as it is called, a shallow pool with a fringe of black sand and perfect for children’s bathing.

I watched it as it was washed in, a dead cuvier’s beaked whale, the tide carrying it relentlessly onto the rocks where it lay as the sea pulled back. Later, the beach was cordoned off until yesterday when a big boat got in at high tide to harpoon it and tow it to the pier where a JCB lifted it onto a truck to be taken away for burial.

Cuvier’s beaked whales are toothed whales that can dive deeper (to over 1km) and stay underwater longer (20 to 40 minutes) than any other mammal. Incredibly, studies have recorded them at depths of 3km, staying 138 minutes without coming up for air. The ‘beak’ enables them to suck in their prey, often of giant squid or octopus. The jaw makes them appear to be smiling. Mature adults average 6m in length. The whale on the rocks was about 4m, a rough estimate when my son scrambled over the rocks and stood alongside it to take a picture.

What fate brought this fine creature to its untimely demise? As we know, the laws of nature are unforgiving, and not always fair. It is not always for food that predators kill, but for sport.

We have seen Attenborough television footage of orcas tossing live seals into the air like netballs players throw a ball. Orcas or sharks may have killed this animal not for food but for fun. The flesh of the tail had been stripped away leaving a metre of bare white vertebrae, as thick as your arm.

Without the tail to drive its plunge, the animal couldn’t dive to its native depths and evade the killers.

The many wounds on its body may have been sustained in battles with other males, shark bites and rock tears as it washed ashore; blood was in pools around it, blood which, until earlier, poured into the sea.

The scent and sight of blood naturally attracts even more predators. It was sad to see this unique, apparently healthy, animal lying dead on the sharp black rocks fringing the beach of black sand.

Presently, there is the annual run of bluefin tuna between the islands of La Gomera and El Hierro, and sharks, orcas and local artisan-owned fishing boats gather to harvest the bounty.

Fishing boats can take a quota of 500kg per year. One of my son’s friends comes from a Hierro fishing family. Last year, his father’s quota was filled by just two bluefin one of almost 300kg, the other of 190kg.

What happens if a boat hooks a bluefin that weighs over half a ton (if any exist still) half the size of the boat and almost as powerful as its engines. How can they let it go? I don’t know. Life’s a learning process.

I’m curious to find out.'' (Damien Enright, Irish Examiner)

Novel solution to lack of tourists due to coronavirus

The recent panic pandemic aka pandemic panic caused by the coronavirus has led to the cancellation of nearly all flights to and from the Canary Islands and holiday makers are scarcer than gold dust in La Gomera. While some little relaxation of the lockdown is now granted, the usual stream of tourists and visitors is unlikely to return in the foreseeable future. 

As you can see in the above image, some ingenious or stone mad Gomeran artist, depending on your point of view, has come up with a novel idea to re-populate the deserted beaches with tourists by creating them from pebbles and rocks. Above sunbathers were modelled on the 'German nudist roasting in the sun for hours to achieve a complete dark tan' type of tourist, formerly always seen at Valle Gran Rey's Playa del Ingles.

...and no, this is not a belated April fool's post. I came across the above image on  a German La Gomera - Valle Gran Rey facebook page .

Suicidal Rats Off Their Tree

La Gomera's rat friendly forest ? (image: archive  lagomera1.blogspot.com)

This year instead of my usual April fool's hoax I'm sharing the latest article by Irish writer Damien Enright (Irish Examiner), who was one of the first 'foreigners' to settle in La Gomera many years ago and since went back to 'the ol' sod' like myself, only to return to La Gomera again, and again...and (yes) again. The rats stayed and are still falling about laughing... Damien has more:

Monday, March 16, 2020 - 12:00 AM

We will soon be returning to West Cork from La Gomera, in the Canary islands. Yesterday, I found the text of a light-hearted radio talk I gave about island life in the late 1980s. In 40 years, it hasn’t lost its magic. This is what I wrote...

There are many things wonderful about La Gomera. One is the whistling language, two is the forests, and three is the suicidal rat. Gomera is the only place on earth with a whistling language. It has been studied by anthropologists from far and near. 

I hear it often, on quiet afternoons, in the vast, deep, green Valle Gran Rey, when I sit typing, my door wide open for light, for there were no windows in our rented farmhouse.

Haunting, clear and thrilling, a phrase rings across the valley. Another answers. Sometimes, another whistle breaks in. Perhaps, the third party is simply interrupting.

I guess just as there are people who talk too much, there are people who whistle too much, too.

Gomera whistles aren’t signals, like a hill farmer gives to his dog. They are conversations; one can hear it; there is no doubt. Sometimes, one can almost guess at what they’re saying: “Hey, Jose, if you’re going to la villa in the morning, can you fetch me two adzes and pick up Conchita’s dress?”

So, they make arrangements to do this or that or, sometimes, simply chew the rag.

Conversational whistling was evolved by Gomera’s ancient Guanche people. Guanches from Gomera were forced to help the Spanish conquest of Tenerife and Gran Canaria by communicating military information across the deep gorges of those islands.

The forests are vast; one can walk all day and never meet a soul. Once, they were a hunting domain of Spanish kings. Then, wild boar roamed the highlands; now, a rabbit is the most dangerous thing one might meet. No snakes, no scorpions, no nasties.

The flora is unique and spectacular, with flowers all year, and butterflies in their thousands in their season and, in autumn, the forest mushrooms must be the biggest and best on earth. Paths are legion. The 40 sq km of Garajonay cloud forests was designated a National Park in 1981 and a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1986.

Up there, the mist swirls like great, lost galleons down the deep, emerald valleys. Trees are hung with Spanish moss. Thirty miles eastward, on Tenerife, Mount Teide rises, clear and crystal, 3,600m out of the sea; it’s sheer immensity makes it seem near. There it sits, like Fujiama in Japan, the perfect cone volcano, capped with snow.

Mount Teide on Tenerife, a still active seamount volcano rising 7,500m from its base on the ocean floor

But the Cañadas of Teide are cinder deserts and wind-worn buttes, ideal locations for a spaghetti western, bad lands or worse. Gomera’s highlands are fecund and fertile. Giant heathers, laurels and wax myrtles reaching 20m cover the plateau. Only the crowns catch the sun. 

The trunks, in half-darkness, are hung with Spanish moss. Huge Canarian pines, and the ubiquitous palmeras, surely amongst the most beautiful trees on earth, form stately groves in hidden forests.

This is the domain of the endemic soft-winged, sweet-voiced laurel pigeon and — if it may be believed — the famous Gomera addicted rat.

Rats are not endemic: The only mammal to reach Gomera without human help was the bat. Rabbits were introduced, mice and rats arrived aboard ships. The ‘suicidal rat’, as my friend called it has, it seems, developed a unique way of partying.

Amongst the vast and varied forests there are many trees of great interest. A biochemist friend told me that she had identified more than 200 toxins in one particular tree, which attracts forest rats when it flowers. The seeds provide quite a cocktail. The rats love it; they can’t get enough.

Their behaviour was first observed when a group of scientists, exploring insect life in the forest at night, began to hear loud plops all around them in the forest. This was eerie, especially when something large, soft and furry fell on one of their heads.

It was a rat, very placid and intoxicated. They found more under a tree, staggering about or asleep. Some, having fallen from the branches, climbed up again, ate some more leaves and seeds and once more fell to the ground. 

Finally, they retired for the night, blitheroe.

My friend said that individuals eventually either OD or damage themselves so badly in the fall that they stumble into the undergrowth and die. Apparently, the seeds are especially tough and, instead of dissolving in the dead rat’s stomach, they sprout, using the rat compost to give them a great start in life. Thus, the tree enlarges its range more than it could otherwise. 

And the rats never learn...

...until they get flattened by a supply truck or a hire car (Ed.)

Damien Enright

Do it, but do it later

Above was recently published by the tourism department of La Gomera's island government

Irish tourists in Spain: GET OUT BY THURSDAY !

Tánaiste calls on Irish tourists in Spain - who want to fly home - to do so by midnight Thursday

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney, has today held talks with his Spanish counterpart as well as the Chief Executives of Ryanair and Aer Lingus.

Following the talks Simon Coveney TD said, “I understand the deep concern about returning home from mainland Spain or the Canary and Balearic Islands in the coming days. We have been working closely with our colleagues in the Spanish government and have an orderly plan in place with Ryanair and Aer Lingus supported by the Spanish government.”

"My Spanish Foreign Affairs and Transport counterparts have assured me that Spanish airports remain open and the country is not bringing about a flight ban. They further assure me that Spanish airspace remains open for Irish airlines to bring citizens home. I reaffirmed Ireland’s solidarity with Spain at this difficult time and thanked their frontline authorities for dealing with this unprecedented challenge.”

The Tánaiste also held a conference call with senior management from Ryanair and Aer Lingus as well as senior officials from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Ireland’s Embassy in Madrid.

The Tánaiste said, “Following my discussions with Ryanair and Aer Lingus I am calling on all Irish tourists who wish to return from Spain to do so by midnight this coming Thursday March 19th. Both airlines are allocating bigger planes to the routes in order to accommodate passengers and both airlines have waved booking and seat fees for anyone who wants to change a booking from a later flight to one in the coming days.”

Key points

• The Spanish government has assured Ireland that airports and airspace remain open

• Irish airports and airspace remains open

• Both Ryanair and Aer Lingus have been in contact with customers via email and social media channels on how to book

• Customers should book or make changes to existing bookings directly with them

• We continue to advise Irish citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to Spain

• Spanish airports are asking passengers to travel to the airport in small groups and at their allotted time

• Do not travel to a Spanish airport unless you have a booking

• Anyone returning from Spain should follow HSE advice

• We look forward to resuming the close links between Ireland and Spain in the coming weeks

• Department of Foreign Affairs travel advice and contact information is available at https://www.dfa.ie/travel/travel-advice/coronavirus/

SEE PREVIOUS POST: SPAIN LOCKS DOWN...

Spain locks down from Monday 8am

Spain has put its inhabitants under lockdown from Monday morning 8am, March 16th 2020, as part of a 15-day state of emergency plan to combat the coronavirus.

The government declared that all Spaniards and those permanently resident in Spain must stay at home except to buy food, go to the pharmacy, to the hospital, visit banks, go to work or in emergencies, the decree issued on Saturday by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his ministers states. 

“Physical presence in commercial premises should be limited to what is strictly necessary,” Sanchez said, adding that crowds must be avoided, and consumers and employees must maintain a meter of distance between one another in order to avoid contagion. “I am also announcing that in order to ensure the supply of goods, the Health Ministry will be able to impose the necessary orders for the provision of the market,” Sanchez said. “The Health Ministry will be able to impose obligatory personal requisitions.” The prime minister added that the Spanish government would guarantee the supply of foodstuffs.

All bars, restaurants, conference centres and all leisure and sports activities - including cinemas, theatres, swimming pools or football grounds - will be shut down.

All retail activity is suspended apart from businesses selling foodstuffs, pharmacies, tobacconists, suppliers of IT equipment, newsstands, hairdressers and dry cleaners.

All public transport will be curtailed, with airline, train, bus, ferry and boat operators told they need to cut their services by at least half and that any plane, train, bus or other means of transport can only be a third full.

Employers will have the obligation to let their workers work remotely and judicial proceedings will be suspended.

Spain's Interior Ministry will control all police forces, including local and regional ones, under the 15-day emergency rule, which may be extended further.

The health and transport ministries will also have nationwide reach, taking over some local or regional powers.

Spanish prime minister Sanchez said the lockdown will begin on Monday at 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) while all other measures have entered into force as soon as the decree was published in the official journal. ''We will have the Armed Forces at our disposal – the Army is prepared for this.''

In an earlier move all cruise ships were banned from entering Spanish ports.

Note: All these measures will also apply in the Canary Islands.

Tourists will be allowed to return home  ...and if they stay they'll have to remain in their accommodation, too.

Carnival in Playa de Santiago 2020

Playa de Santiago will hold their annual carnival from tomorrow, March 5th 2020.
The main parade will be on Friday from 6:30 pm, followed by dancing to DJs and salsa bands all night...

Sixes and Twos

Spotted in Barranco del Ingenio, near Vallehermoso, in La Gomera's north-west a while back

Carnival programme 2020 VGR

Note: The carnival parade is on Sat. 29th of Feb. from 5:30pm

Carnival 2020 in Valle Gran Rey

This year's carnival of Valle Gran Rey takes place from the 24th of February to 1st of March 2020 and the main venue and stage will be in the harbour of Vueltas. The theme is television, but anything goes really, as usual...

Light at the end of the tunnel for tunnel illumination

The entrance to the first tunnel near Arure

The two long and dark tunnels on the main and only  road (GM-2) to/from Valle Gran Rey in La Gomera's south-west will now get badly needed lighting after several serious accidents within and years of promises that came to nothing. The Canarian government has finally allocated 1,2 million Euros for the illumination of both the tunnel of Arure, which is 430 metres long, and the nearby tunnel of Yorima of 630 metres lenght. Additional emergency lighting will also be installed and the electrical supply cables will be laid underground to avoid impairing the breathtaking views in the area. The project has already been put out to tender and a speedy installation is expected, with the works to take 19 weeks to completion once a contractor has been selected.

Rare concert in new venue

A rare concert by Diego Barbeito aka 'Capitan Amor' is happening this Sunday, January 12th 2020, at 7:30 pm in a new venue in Valle Gran Rey. The former disco 'Quasimodo' has reopened as 'Club 432' after many years of closure. It is right at the beach of Vueltas in the basement of the apartment block that also houses the pensioners social club (formerly 'Bar Nº2'). Diego Barbeito is an excellent Argentinian Tango musician and artist, who as 'Capitan Amor' performs his own modern electronic rock-pop compositions and songs. He has been living and working in Valle Gran Rey for many years with his Argentinian wife Manix and they both also teach classic Tango dancing.

A tango workshop and concert will take place in the same venue the following Sunday, January 19th 2020 (see below).